After last year’s Heisman Trophy campaign, USC quarterback Caleb Williams became the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
But now that his 2023 season has come to a close, Williams is still keeping the door open to returning to USC for one more year.
Williams told Ryan Kartje of the L.A. Times that it’s still “a game-time decision” whether or not he’ll declare for the draft by the Jan. 15 deadline.
While Williams played well once again in 2023, USC as a team took several steps back to finish the regular season with a 7-5 record. In 2022, Williams completed 66.6 percent of his 500 throws for 4,537 yards with 42 touchdowns and five interceptions. This year, he completed 68.6 percent of 388 passes for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and five picks.
Williams also rushed for 142 yards with 11 TDs in 2023.
The signal-caller said it was one of his “most important years of playing football so far.”
“I’ve never been in this situation, where I’m 7-5 and there are no playoff hopes at the end of the season,” Williams said. “I’m dealing with it emotionally, dealing with it spiritually and physically. It’s been one of the most important years I think I’ve had. It’s tricky. I’ve had to have talks with [USC head coach] Lincoln [Riley] — because obviously I haven’t been through it — or with my family members or people like that, just how to deal with this and lead, how to stay the same person I was before the season or after our first loss or second loss.
“So, it was different. It was a learning process.”
Notably, Williams took some criticism for crying to his mother in the crowd after USC lost to Washington on Nov. 4. But he doesn’t seem concerned about how that might affect his perception as he potentially advances to the next level.
“There’s a time and a place for everything,” Williams said. “But I’m far from ashamed about showing my emotion after any of the losses this year. It shows truth. It shows care. All that. I’m getting better at it, showing it in the right place and the right time. But if I won a national championship or a Super Bowl years down the line — if I was winning, nobody would be saying anything.”
Williams might call declaring a game-time decision, and Williams’ father, Carl, has publicly mused about the quarterback returning to USC if a bad situation awaits him at the top of the draft. But it still seems highly unlikely that Williams won’t eventually declare for the 2024 draft — no matter who ends up with the No. 1 overall pick.
